Lenders give Bally $280 million credit Bally Total Fitness (NYSE:BFT), which warned last month that it may not be able to fulfill its credit agreement, said its lenders had agreed to a credit totaling $280 million. The news shot its shares up 50.1 percent on Oct. 4 -- more than four times average daily trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares rose as high as $0.88 from previous day's trading, closing at $2.50. The stock has traded between $1.46 to $9.92 in the past 52 weeks and is down about 73 percent since the beginning of the year.

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The new agreement moves the date on which the company's senior subordinated notes are due to Oct. 15 from April 15, according to the agreement. The lenders are JPMorgan Chase Bank, JP Morgan Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc., Canyon Capital Advisors LLC and Goldman Sachs Credit Partners LP.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bally said its lenders had agreed to a term loan of $205.9 million, a delayed-draw term loan of $34.1 million, and a revolving credit facility of $40 million.

In September, Bally posted a second-quarter loss and said it would not have sufficient liquidity to operate its business without an extension of its credit agreement with lenders, or the refinancing of its debt.

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Bally has struggled to recover from accounting issues that prompted it to restate five years of financial reports. In August, the company removed its chief executive and said its search for a buyer had been unsuccessful.

Bally also affirmed a forecast it gave on August 11 for 2006 cash contribution to be 10 percent to 20 percent below the $120 million it reported for 2005. The company's cash contribution represents operating income excluding depreciation and amortization, and unusual items.

Additionally, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Oct. 6 affirmed its ratings on Bally. The agency removed Bally's "CCC" corporate credit rating and others from CreditWatch and said the outlook is "developing."

S&P placed the ratings on CreditWatch in December, after the company hired JP Morgan Securities to help explore strategic alternatives.

"Although Bally continues to explore strategic alternatives, the probability of a major infusion of equity to reduce debt is considerably diminished," credit analyst Andy Liu said in a statement. Total debt outstanding as of June 30 was $723 million.

Icon directors buy out majority shares of equity investorsIn a filing with the SEC on Oct. 5, Icon Health & Fitness revealed that company directors and executives Gary Stevenson, Scott Watterson and Robert Gay have bought out most but not all of the stocks owned by equity investors Bain Capital (Bain Entities) and Inverness/Phoenix Partners and Capital Partners (Inverness Entities). Each sold certain of their equity in the company's indirect parent, HF Investment Holdings LLC, at $50 per unit or $8.5 million total price.

Bain's interest in the company is now down from 2,580,000 shares to 1,032 shares, while Inverness' interest is down from 344,000 shares to 172 shares. Together, the buyers' interest will increase from 3,873,000 shares to 6,795,796 shares on a fully diluted basis.

Crocs acquires JibbitzCrocs (Nasdaq: CROX) has entered into an agreement to buy Jibbitz LLC, a family-run business that makes customized versions of Crocs' brand footwear, for $10 million. Crocs also said it would pay up to an additional $10 million if Jibbitz meets certain performance targets.

Crocs and Jibbitz also struck an endorsement deal, under which Crocs will endorse Jibbitz worldwide and Jibbitz gains access to Crocs' distribution and retail network. Jibbitz already features over 300 different designs being sold through 4,000 retail accounts both in the United States and Europe.

The acquisition is scheduled to close in December, with the endorsement deal effective immediately. Jibbitz will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Crocs following the closing and founders Rich and Sheri Schmelzer will remain with Jibbitz as president and chief design officer, respectively.

Calculation snafu lowers Wal-Mart's same-store salesWal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) slashed its September sales results, saying that about 235 of its stores were incorrectly coded to calculate sales last month. It said sales at its stores open at least a year rose a much weaker 1.3 percent versus an earlier 1.8 percent increase. The company said total sales were not affected.

Costco reports September salesCostco Wholesale (Nasdaq: COST) reported net sales of $5.56 billion for the month of September, the five weeks ended Oct. 1, 2006, an increase of 8 percent from $5.14 billion in the same five-week period last year. Comparable sales increased 4 percent during this five-week period (3 percent domestically and 12 percent internationally).

Bally debt holders OK waiverBally Total Fitness (NYSE: BFT) said it has received approval from a majority of holders of its senior notes to waive financial reporting covenant defaults until July 10 after the company failed to file its 2005 financials on time. Majority approval ...read more

Nautilus lowers Q1 guidance, share prices sinkNautilus (NYSE: NLS) lowered its first-quarter earnings guidance based on sluggish sales of its home fitness products in North America. For the first quarter, the company said it now expects earnings per diluted share of $0.08-$0.09 ...read more

Amer's Precor posts 17 percent sales increaseDriven by "particularly good growth" with its Precor business segment, Amer Sports reported net sales growth of 8 percent for the January to March first quarter -- Euro 417.4 million (USD $527.4 million) in 2006 compared to Euro 385.0 ...read more

Bally noteholders agree to waiversBally Total Fitness (OTC: BFTH) said it has secured limited waiver and forbearance agreements from the requisite holders of its 10-1/2 percent Senior Notes due 2011 and its 9-7/8 percent Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007. The waivers relate to ...read more

Big 5 to restate 2002-2004 results, Nasdaq threatens delistingOn April 8, Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. (Nasdaq: BGFV) reported that it received a notice from Nasdaq saying that it fails to comply with Nasdaq listing standards due to the delayed filing of its annual report on Form ...read more

Bally enters confidentiality agreement with PardusHedge fund Pardus Capital Management said that it has entered a confidentiality agreement with Bally Total Fitness Holding (NYSE: BFT), allowing Bally's largest shareholder to receive confidential information about the company. ...read more

Forzani Group quarter a bit rockyThe Forzani Group Ltd. (TSX: FGL) cut its earnings forecast for the fiscal year because of weak back-to-school sales, sending shares of the Calgary-based Canadian sporting goods giant to its worst level in about three years. Forzani, which ...read more

Icon Health & Fitness, which filed its year-end and quarterly statement a few days late after requesting a filing extension saying it needed extra time due to discontinued operations, reported net sales for the year ended May 31, 2005 were down 9.5 percent, or $94.1 million, to ...read more